Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

There were no major surprises in ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup yesterday with pre-season favourites Wolmer's Boys, Kingston College (KC), Jamaica College (JC) and Bridgeport all recording victories.

In Group C where there is a tight battle between JC, Wolmer's and Jonathan Grant for the top spot and automatic qualification to the Walker Cup play-offs, JC gave themselves some breathing space with a 3-0 away win over Jonathan Grant, while Wolmer's, courtesy of an Ateba Morgan 41st minute strike, defeated the now-out-of-contention Vauxhall 1-0 at Vauxhall playing field.

Four matches remaining

Wolmer's and JC now lead with 14 points, while Jonathan Grant remained third on nine. There are four matches remaining.

In Group F where KC and St Andrew Technical High (STATHS) are battling for group honours, the latter were held to a 1-1 draw at Jacisera Park to move to 16 points, while a goal in each half by Christopher Harrison and Jamie Hyde led KC to a gutsy 2-1 away win over Edith Dalton James. The Purples are now only a point adrift of STATHS.

In the group's other game, St Catherine edged fellow cellar dwellers Kingston High 1-0.

"It was a fairly good game,a gutsy performance," said Kingston College coach, Wayne Fairclough. "It's not every game that you are going to play classic football, and while I am not totally pleased, we achieved our mission in the end."

However, while Fairclough was relatively okay with his team's performance and result, it was noticeable in STATHS' coach, Keith Nichol, that he was disappointed.

"Two of our key players were out today because of illness and the other top players, who we were expecting to step up, failed to carry out the instructions that were given to them," said Nichol.

"It was a case where we played flat, while Penwood played with a purpose to get at least a point. I hope that this result push them to realise that they are up against it, because if we want to qualify for the Walker Cup we will have to play much better," he added.

In other results, undefeated Bridgeport High and Eltham High increased the intensity for group honours following 9-0 and 2-0 wins over newcomers Cumberland and Innswood, respectively, while early front-runners, Jose Marti, were all but eliminated from the running following a 2-2 tie with strugglers St Jago.

Yesterday's Results

Group C

Jonathan Grant 0 Jamaica College 3

Vauxhall 0 Wolmer's 1

Group D

Cumberland 0 Bridgeport 9

Innswood 0 Eltham 2

St Jago 2 Jose Marti 2

Group F

KC 2 Edith Dalton James 1

Penwood 1 STATHS 1

Kingston 0 St Catherine 1

Today's Matches

Group A

Campion vs Charlie Smith

Tivoli vs Tarrant

Spanish Town vs Norman Manley

Group B

Donald Quarrie vs Ascot

Waterford vs Pembroke Hall

Calabar vs St Mary's College

Group E

Ardenne vs Dunoon

Excelsior vs Camperdown

St George's vs Greater Portmore